The present invention relates to a computer implemented method for controlling communication between networks and among a plurality of users, specifically, sharing of documents while controlling access to databases referenced in the documents, and maintaining an accessible record of all recipients of the shared document.
Sharing of information in the current environment of systems is dependent on the proprietor of the information. In order to make the information available to a widely dispersed public, the proprietor will need to submit the information to a central repository. Work groups are common in the corporate environment, and the sharing of group information is a successful component of the work group dynamic. Work group documents may contain any combination of text, numbers, computer program source code, computer hardware schematics or layouts, database records, database references, digitized audio, digitized video, digitized visual images, or other digital information. The availability of this information is dependent somewhat upon the availability of the repository and the awareness of other people having access to the repository. Generally, when submitting to a widely available repository, the originator or proprietor does not have complete control over the access to the submitted information. Secrecy controls, when applicable, attempt to allow members of the work group to review and edit the documents while preventing such access by others outside the group.
Access control lists have been introduced to enhance security control measures. System users are assigned to one or more groups by a system administrator, and an access list, which matches groups with access rights, is associated with documents in the computer system. Going one step further, some work groups encrypt their documents. In an encrypted form, the documents cannot be understood. An encryption “key” is required to decrypt the document. In U.S. Pat. No. 5,787,175 issued to Carter on Jul. 28, 1998, entitled, “METHOD AND APPARATUS FOR COLLABORATIVE DOCUMENT CONTROL,” a combination of public-key cryptographic methods, symmetric cryptographic methods, and message digest generation methods are used for controlling collaborative access to a work group document. Users who are currently members of a collaborative group can readily access the information, while users who are not currently members of the group cannot. Although access control is defined, an automated method of notifying the originator and acquiring the originator's approval for access to the referenced databases identified within the originator's document to forwarded recipients of the document is not disclosed or taught. Nor is the tracking path of the shared document retained or filed for later inspection by the originator.
In U.S. Pat. No. 6,356,010 issued to Viets, et al., on Mar. 12, 2002, entitled, “SYSTEM AND METHOD FOR CONTROLLING ACCESS TO DOCUMENTS STORED ON AN INTERNAL NETWORK,” a system for limiting access from an external network to documents stored on an internal network is taught. A client list is built in which each client is assigned to one or more roles. Each role has access to one or more documents. A requested document is compared to the document list associated with the client's role, and if the requested document is in the list of documents available to the client in the client's role, the requested document is retrieved. Again, an automated method of notifying the originator and acquiring the originator's approval for access to the referenced databases identified within the originator's document to forwarded recipients of the document is not disclosed or taught. Nor is the tracking path of the shared document retained or filed. Thus, the originator does not have the ability to learn of those interested in his or her work.
Under these control access schemes, even when information is available in a central database, a user's attention is not automatically drawn to the value of this information. Nor is the originator's attention drawn to the information needs of others reviewing the document, which would provide insight as to the valued perception attributed by the document reviewers.
In U.S. Pat. No. 6,212,534 issued to Lo, et al., on Apr. 3, 2001, entitled, “SYSTEM AND METHOD FOR FACILITATING COLLABORATION IN CONNECTION WITH GENERATING DOCUMENTS AMONG A PLURALITY OF OPERATORS USING NETWORKED COMPUTER SYSTEMS,” document information relating to documents being generated is stored along with a user module; the document information including both document structure and document content. The user module includes a whiteboard display module to display a whiteboard to a user, selectively displaying document structure and content. Notecards are assigned to associate documents in a hierarchical organization, and stored separately from each other. Each notecard represents and effectively contains a content item, which may be used in a document. Lo, however, does not teach or disclose the tracking path of the shared document retained or filed for later inspection by the originator. Moreover, any comments made by an operator regarding a specific document are performed and retained on an associated notecard that is displayed on the separate whiteboard.
Bearing in mind the problems and deficiencies of the prior art, it is therefore an object of the present invention to provide an apparatus and method for autonomic email access control of shared documents.
It is another object of the present invention to provide an apparatus and method for autonomic email access control of shared documents that maintain the tracking path of the shared document retained or filed for later inspection by the originator.
A further object of the invention is to provide an apparatus and method for autonomic email access control of shared documents that allows the originator to assign access authorization for database links within a document, and expand the review of the shared information.
It is yet another object of the invention to provide an apparatus and method for autonomic email access control of databases links referenced within shared documents to allow the originator to assign access information regarding referenced databases within an emailed document.
Still other objects and advantages of the invention will in part be obvious and will in part be apparent from the specification.